Hi everyone-I'm new to this board, and have a lot of questions to ask regarding possible perimenopause.
I'll be 42 in December and it seems like over the last year, I've been suddenly falling apart healthwise. I've listed some symptoms I've been having for a few months now-
Heart palpitations(a few times a week)
Hair dryness and hair loss-lots of it!!
Complete lack of sex drive
Various aches and pains
Crashing fatigue sometimes in the late afternoon where I could fall right asleep(not happening with an active 4 year old!!)
INSOMNIA-this has been terrible and ongoing for a few years now-waking frequently,can't get back to sleep,etc.
Night sweats-recently started with these, about 4 months or so-maybe once or twice a week(no daytime hot flashes at all)
Shorter periods-I'm done completely in 3-4 days from start, with large clots some months(sorry to be graphic here)
Breast tenderness-like I'm pregnant-this happens every other month or so and lasts a day or two
Moody,irritable
Rapid weight gain-like just from looking at food-although I've always gained weight very easily, it seems to be happening a lot quicker, although I must admit I'm always hungry and eat everything in sight
This about covers everything-and I sure hope this is all related to Perimenopause, and nothing more serious like Cancer. The night sweats and heart palps are scaring me most of all. I made the mistake of researching these, and from what I read, these can be symptoms of some really serious, bad things. I have an appointment for the complete gamut of bloodwork in two weeks, including FSH, glucose, cancer markers, etc. I have also scheduled an appointment with my DH's cardiologist next month to get an Eccho of my heart, to see what's up with the palps, and to make sure my heart murmur(recently diagnosed) is benign. So I'm officially falling apart, ladies!
Anyone else with some of these symptoms that is currently going through Peri? How was your Peri diagnosed? Am I too young to be going through this just yet? I had a CBC done last year and everything was fine then, although I have not had any hormone or thyroid bloodwork done in a few years. Should I worry if all the hormone bloodwork comes back negative? I've been trying to ignore a lot of what's going on with me, chalking it up to middle age, but since the night sweats started, I feel I need to take some action now. Sorry for the really long post!!
Nope, not cancer. It sounds a lot like perimenopause, had very similar symptoms as yours when I started. I would also check out your thyroid just incase it's hypo or hyper there.
Thanks so much for your response-I'm definitely having my thyroid checked with all my other bloodwork. When I was pregnant four years ago with my daughter, it was on the low side, but not low enough for the doctor to consider treating it. Maybe there is something going on with it, along with all the Peri symptoms. Thanks!
Hi Dawn. Well menopause effects thyroid function anyways. The problem in our country is much has changed with the endocrine associations regarding blood count but many of the doctors and labs don't follow. They say that the lab work is too high in thyroid function and therefore lowered the test results because they felt that a majority of people in america are walking around with undetected thyroid problems. This being your example of a low thyroid level when pregnant but not low enough to treat. Let me know what transpires. Good luck!
If little or nothing shows up on your tests, you might want to investigate Lyme Disease...you have many of the symptoms (although they are also symptoms of other conditions) and you live in a high risk state.
A number of people who have Lyme Disease also have thyroid problems.
Bethsheba-interesting that you brought up Lyme testing. My DH has been ill (weird symptoms, including thyroid problems) for about 2 years now, and is currently under aggressive treatment from a top Lyme specialist. Nothing has ever tested positive in his Lyme bloodwork though-which is usually the case the longer you have it. I figure it probably wouldn't hurt to have that test done as well. Anyway, I'm hoping it's all hormone related-it would be so much easier to get some sort of diagnosis rather than go through what my DH is going through!
